Canada is squandering first-mover advantage with cannabis, the most significant consumer product launch in history, at a time when our economy is starving for growth. How do you choke on $60 billion-plus of growth opportunity and hundreds of thousands of purposeful jobs? You roll it into the hands of the federal government, and they then shotgun it out to ten provinces, three territories and all the bureaucrats and bulls* that comes with this plan. There is no efficiency or scale. [continues 355 words]
Toronto's municipal licensing and standards department is reviewing city bylaws to see if changes are needed to deal with the "potential impacts" that people growing legal marijuana may have on neighbouring tenants or properties. Mark Sraga, director of investigation services for the licensing department, said he doesn't anticipate cannabis home-grow operations to have a significant impact on municipal bylaws when the law permits people to grow the drug this summer. "Under Health Canada rules, people are allowed to grow medicinal marijuana in their houses," he said. "I don't see how growing four plants necessarily having any impact considering the fact I've seen some personal designation grow licences for hundreds of plants." [continues 275 words]
Sex-ed, pot and Brown There's no dust on Doug Ford. Just a day after being elected head of Ontario's PC party, Ford has announced he'll repeal the Liberal's sexed curriculum, hand marijuana sales back to the people and make a decision on permitting Patrick Brown to run as the PC candidate in the riding of Simcoe North. While political pundits are licking their pencils in anticipation of analyzing Ford's every move, the newly elected leader is already out there working the crowd and winning over voters. [continues 416 words]
Suspended Hamilton cop Craig Ruthowsky revealed that he aided a drug dealer to cultivate his trust so he could snare a larger trafficker, his former best friend testified Tuesday. Sgt. James Paterson, who once considered himself Ruthowsky's "best friend," confronted Ruthowsky after he was suspended in 2012 while both were working for Hamilton's guns and gangs unit. "Craig Ruthowsky advised me that the dealer was dangling a bigger fish in front of him that he wanted to get, this major importer Officer Ruthowsky had said 'I was trying to make myself look like a dirty cop so that will trust me more, and he'd give up the bigger fish,'" said Paterson. [continues 118 words]
Same tribe, different mindsets. On Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory on the shores of Lake Ontario, dead centre between Toronto and Montreal, there are more than 20 pot dispensaries and at least 30 smoke shacks selling cheap cigarettes. The population of Tyendinaga is 2,124. Do the math. At the Six Nations Mohawk Territory, however, the largest First Nations reserve in Canada with a population of 12,000-plus living on the reserve, there is a huge sign on the main highway indicating zero tolerance to illicit drugs. [continues 543 words]
Pot still considered taboo during workdays The late, great George Carlin apparently once joked that the 1960s-era crackdown on the business man's "three-martini lunch" shouldn't affect the working stiff's "two-joint coffee break." But will the latter be frowned upon in the workplace if pot becomes legal - as expected - in Canada later this year? There is stigma that still exists," says leading Canadian cannabis activist Jodie Emery. "Now it depends though, of course, where you work. In a modern city like Toronto or Vancouver, you could probably have more progressive attitudes towards that in workplaces but definitely in smaller towns and more conservative jurisdictions, you would have push back." [continues 583 words]
Victims of bad science at Motherisk Return their children. That's what they want - the parents who saw their kids ripped away based on flawed alcohol and drug hair tests from the now shuttered Motherisk lab at the famous Sick Children's hospital. A report tabled this week examined 1,270 cases handled by the lab going back more than two decades and found 56 clear cases where Motherisk's flawed test results had a "substantial impact" on the decision to remove children - - though critics argue there are far more. [continues 651 words]
Pot courses sprouting at Ontario colleges Puff, puff, pass will take on a new meaning when recreational cannabis becomes legal in Canada later this year. And not just in the way you might think. Some Canadian colleges and universities are preparing people for the thousands of potential new jobs expected to be created as the country's booming weed industry - valued at $23 billion by accounting firm Deloitte - transitions from the black market to a legal one with an estimated 5 million existing customers across the country. [continues 668 words]
Officer Flyer Man flew up a tree Not where a uniformed police man should be. This went down last weekend on Saturday night In Toronto the Good and yes, it happened alright. At Black Creek Drive and Eglinton Ave. Cops didn't foresee what a night they would have. Officer Flyer Man and other brave cops Were busting Toronto's illegal drug shops. They thought the evidence really looked good So then they did something no officer should. These two cops failed to act like professionals [continues 390 words]
Medical cannabis patients who use the plant to treat conditions ranging from eczema to cancer are coming together this Friday from 10 a.m. to noon in front of Finance Minister Bill Morneau's downtown Toronto constituency office at 430 Parliament St., to call out the government's proposed plan to increase the already unfair and burdensome tax on medical cannabis. Unlike medical cannabis, most prescribed medications are not taxed, creating a situation where patients are choosing medications based on financial options rather than harm reduction and efficacy. [continues 408 words]
Ontario is considering allowing licensed cannabis consumption lounges in the province once recreational marijuana is legalized this summer, and is asking the public to weigh in on the idea. The proposal is being met with optimism by some cannabis activists and municipal politicians who say the provincial government's approach on where legal weed can be consumed has been too restrictive so far. Under rules outlined in the fall, the province intends to sell marijuana in up to 150 stores run by the Liquor Control Board of Ontario to people 19 and older, with a ban on pot's consumption in public spaces or workplaces. [continues 203 words]
Public parks? Coffee shops? The province wants your input on pot What are the three most important rules of consuming cannabis? You know the joke - location, location, location. With the legalization of marijuana looming, the conversation has turned to where it can be safely consumed. Where should people smoke pot? Where should they consume cannabis edibles? Last week, the province asked for public feedback on the issue. Ontario has nixed consumption on the job or in public places. The 'public places' bit immediately presents problems - lots of people smoke dope in parks, and for obvious reasons. [continues 468 words]
Better dust off that recipe for hash brownies. A new poll says more people are expressing approval of cannabis edibles. The Forum Poll interviewed 1,022 voters in Ontario and found that more than half approve of the sale of baked goods, drinks and other food items that contain marijuana. In the two years since the last survey, that approval number has moved up six points (from 46% to 52%); likewise, the numbers of those who disapprove of the sale of such items has gone down from 43% to 37%. [continues 438 words]
Fed regulations will inhibit marketing, businesses say Recreational pot should be legal in Canada by summer, but it won't be glamorous. Producers trying to market their product face a battery of proposed government restrictions similar to those governing the sale of cigarettes. Labels may have to display graphic health warnings, adhere to standardized lettering and limit the use of colors and "brand elements." Celebrity endorsements and consumer testimonials are banned. It's a reality check on an emerging industry that's seen dizzying growth. Shares of Canopy Growth Corp. have more than tripled in the past year. Its market value of C$7.2 billion ($5.8 billion) now exceeds those of plane maker Bombardier, grocer Empire Co. and miner Kinross Gold. For some investors, including Norman Levine at Portfolio Management Corp., the branding restrictions make the stock unpalatable. [continues 667 words]
Having done drug enforcement over two decades, anyone who believes Justin Trudeau when he says "legalization is the best way to keep this dangerous drug away from our kids" is living in fantasy land. There will still be a flourishing black market, as there is in Colorado and Washington states. By allowing anyone over 19 to grow their own pot supplies, children in such residences will have easy access, plus be exposed to dangerous contaminants emitted from the pot plants. In Colorado, young kids are flooding ERs after getting into their parents' pot supplies, especially edibles containing high concentrations of THC. We can expect the same here. Sunny Days are not ahead for Canadian kids! Larry Comeau Ottawa, Ont. (If government taxes are too high on pot they'll create the same black market they did for cigarettes by pushing tobacco taxes too high) [end]
Legal marijuana, yes, but not in front of the kids: Poll Canadians are comfortable with legal pot but would still be reluctant to consume it in front of their families like they might alcohol, a new Nanos Research poll shows. The survey also found that almost seven out of 10 Canadians agree or somewhat agree that there are medical benefits to marijuana. Jay Rosenthal, President of Business of Cannabis - which commissioned the poll and provides news and analysis of the sector in Canada - said the most surprising finding to him was the high level of public support or acknowledgement that the product has medicinal benefits. [continues 497 words]
Senator Tony Dean is quarterbacking the challenging, complicated marijuana bill come Jan. 31, 2018, when his fellow Senators get back to their posts. But he has already armed his colleagues for informed debate amongst the 38 fellow Independent senators, 34 Tories and 15 Liberals. "It's not a cold start, we've heard from some 100 witnesses at parliamentary committees about the nature of cannabis," said Dean in an interview this week. "I don't believe the status quo (prohibition) is viable," said Dean, 64, a senator since Nov. 2016. [continues 202 words]
Marijuana laws smouldering discontent: Critics The marijuana prohibition era may be closing as early as Canada Day 2018, but pot users may still be burned by old drug laws, warn two veteran criminal defence lawyers. The current effort at legalization is "so half-hearted" and simply doesn't deal with the fallout of decades of weed Prohibition, they say. Simple pot possessors - and pot growers - are still being prosecuted and given heavy sentences. The Canadian government has not made any provision to pardon the thousands of people with simple possession convictions. Their criminal records prevent them from entering the U.S., say critics here. [continues 434 words]
Will weed be the new booze? Will a culture so tied to alcohol switch allegiance once recreational cannabis is readily and legally available? A recent study out of the University of Connecticut looked at alcohol sales in jurisdictions with medical marijuana, and found the two substances to be substitutes, with monthly booze sales falling 13%. A 2016 Deloitte study predicted some alcohol consumers will migrate to legal recreational marijuana. Dan Malleck, associate professor in Health Sciences at Brock University, said the U.S. study looked at medical marijuana, and the findings suggest that people are switching if they're using alcohol to self-medicate for conditions like stress. [continues 337 words]
Where have all the dirty needles gone? Mayor's efforts have made a difference This past Thursday, on a wickedly cold afternoon, I combed the same Yonge-Dundas Sts.-area alleyways where dirty needles have proliferated, particularly since the opening of Toronto's first harm-reduction site. While we saw plenty of drug paraphernalia buried in the snow - orange needle caps, blue gloves, water bottles used as bongs and even remnants of a Naloxone kit - we found no needles. Perhaps the cold contributed to the fact that patrons of The Works on Victoria St. are not shooting up outside. However, Mayor John Tory's cleanup efforts appear to be working. [continues 506 words]
